What did Lavrov say to Radev yesterday? At first glance - nothing special. However, if you read it carefully, the message is much more specific.
The field for the manifestation of Russian diplomacy in the conditions of war is greatly narrowed. In practice, the Russian Foreign Ministry is in vegetative mode - there is no field for active diplomacy in its practical plane. Just look at the fate of Mitrofanova in Sofia - she is not invited anywhere, no real diplomatic work can be done. Putin simply has not left any field for the manifestation of Russian diplomacy. He does not want peace, nor a truce. Ergo - there is no place for diplomats, there is a place for guns.
And in the feeling of their own uselessness, Lavrov and the Russian Foreign Ministry find one of the few remaining fields for expression - information-psychological operations or, to put it simply, propaganda.
But Lavrov also sends signals that must be interpreted. He sends them from a distance, through the media, because he cannot hope for a personal meeting.
First, the very separation of Bulgaria from the other, unmentioned EU countries and its opposition to the “Brussels bureaucracy“ is a signal. Moscow expects Sofia to play a certain role - and in a completely specific aspect.
Second, Lavrov practically says it plainly: you have not done the job yet. This message is directly to Radev. Yes, you have gone in the right direction, but there is no result. And time is running out.
And here we come to the question: what is so important to Russia that it is being given special attention by Lavrov?
The answer is again Turkish Stream.
Nothing else matters to Moscow. This is the alpha and omega of Russian policy towards Bulgaria over the past decade. This was Borisov's strategic service in the big deal - Bulgaria builds the pipe, and Moscow, figuratively speaking, leaves him in power.
Now Radev is in power and he is expected to ensure the continuous flow of Russian gas through Turkish Stream to Europe.
This is Moscow's greatest concrete political and economic interest in Bulgaria at a time when the “Brussels bureaucracy“ allegedly wanted to stop the flow of Russian gas through Bulgaria and thus empty the TurkStream.
Of course, it is not some abstract “Brussels bureaucracy“ that is banning Russian gas. The EU countries have reached this policy and are gradually increasing the level of deterrence against Russia, including through painful measures to limit its income from energy sales. But the thesis of bad bureaucrats from Brussels against good national leaders - such as Orban and Fico, now Radev, is a classic in Russian propaganda.
And over $8 billion worth of Russian gas passes through Bulgaria to Europe annually, a financial resource that could dry up after the ban on the import of Russian pipeline gas into the EU comes into effect in 12 months. That is what Lavrov is talking about. Putin desperately needs this money.
Radev, you have a job to do. Act.
And if you don't finish it?
Then we activate Kostadinov and the GRU - it's a rookie, it's explosives.